Each May marks Paly’s most anticipated event of the year: Streak Week. Soon-to-be graduates entertain the student body by jogging, sprinting and sometimes tripping across the quad in the complete flesh, oftentimes with a costume that covers up little of their bodies. Those who choose to run nude during Streak Week each go in with their own personal motivations and come out with unique memories.
The names of these students have been changed to protect their anonymity.
Luke
Male Streaker
Luke and his group of friends arguably had one of the most memorable performances of this year’s Streak Week. Armed with catfish over a foot in length, they sprinted across the quad, throwing the fish into the air, which hit a some innocent spectators.
Although masked, Luke’s identity was not well-protected, as he was greeted by the administration when he and his accomplices returned to campus.
“On our way back, [Vice Principal Jerry] Berkson came in his [golf cart] and just said ‘I’m not even going to ask,’ and then kept going,” Luke said.
Luke and his fellow streakers had sprinted to the Churchill parking lot to meet their getaway driver which, in hindsight, he believes was a bad idea because “it was a really far distance to run when you’re tired.”
Luke, like many of his peers, wanted to continue the respected tradition and leave his own mark on Streak Week 2013.
“It’s fun and there’s the adrenaline rush of [the administration] maybe trying to catch you,” Luke said. Lucky for him, the administration was fairly lax in their attempted apprehensions of streakers, which Luke no doubt appreciated.
“[Principal Phil] Winston took a picture with the catfish,” Luke said with a smile.
Michaela
Female Streaker
Ever since Michaela was a freshman, she was sure she would streak when her time came as a second semester senior.
“Sure, I was nervous about it,” Michaela said. “But I also knew I’d regret it so much if I didn’t [streak].”
Michaela began preparing months before the actual streaking. She and a few friends deliberated the route they would take and the costumes they would wear.
“We really didn’t want anything to go wrong, naturally, so we spent a lot of time in preparation, which included picking out costumes and getting our stuff together,” Michaela said. “We even met at Paly at night once to do a practice run.”
After years of being a spectator, Michaela’s role was now reversed. But before she knew it, the moment was over.
“[It was] over surprisingly quickly,” Michaela recalled. “By the time I could actually comprehend my situation, I was done running and already safe in the car.”
Michaela recalls the anticipation of streaking having been the “most intense part of the whole experience,” having felt emotions of both excitement and dread before actually streaking.
When the time came for her and her three friends to make their mad dash across the quad, masked only by their revealing Superwoman costumes, she says that “all those nerves disappeared and all I was concentrating on was running as fast as possible.”
Rose
Getaway Driver
Rose took a behind-the-scenes role by serving as the getaway driver for her friends.
Her job was to wait for her friends at a designated location, and quickly drive away from campus and evade any pursuing school employees upon the streakers’ entrance into the vehicle.
“Someone asked me if I would be their driver, and I was more than happy to do it,” Rose said.
The role of getaway driver is crucial; the driver helps plan running routes and is in charge of  making sure that their nude friends do not get caught and are able to change safely and inconspicuously.
“We got to school early that morning and walked through the route, and I showed them exactly where I was going to be,” Rose said.
Luckily for Rose and her friends, everything went as planned, and Rose was surprised by the rush of excitement that her role gave her.
“The amount of adrenaline rushing through me was more than I was prepared for, so I can’t even imagine what the streakers felt like,” Rose said.
Rose took pride in being able to help her friends evade punishment, and said that they realized that her role was important because “if you have a trustworthy driver, you won’t get caught.”